Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY-SA 2.5Valdosta’s library is a branch of South Georgia Regional Library, which lends less per resident than 90% of systems its size
Valdosta’s library is the Willis L. Miller Library, a branch of South Georgia Regional Library, which serves 135,908 people and lent 245K items last year.
The short version on Valdosta’s library
The South Georgia Regional Library system is used less than most libraries its size
The South Georgia Regional Library system records 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. It also spends less than most: $15 per resident, against a typical $36. How it compares ↓
Georgia pays a big share
33% of the budget comes from the state, and 58% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
The South Georgia Regional Library system spends $15 per resident, less than 90% of similar-size libraries (typical: $36). What your card is worth ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024; Valdosta’s library is a branch of South Georgia Regional Library, so they cover the whole system (135,908 people), not just the Valdosta branch.
What’s behind Valdosta’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Valdosta is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns, #69 of 222 in Georgia. Valdosta is graded on two of the three inputs. Valdosta’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($34K–$57K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
253 community nonprofits are registered in Valdosta
4.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (101 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.1%
4.1% of Valdosta’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 4.9% in the typical Georgia town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Valdosta’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
South Georgia Regional Library serves 135,908 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 26 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole South Georgia Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
245K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
82,096 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 9 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
2 places to borrow in Valdosta
Willis L. Miller Library, 2906 Julia Drive, Valdosta.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every South Georgia Regional Library branch.
New in Valdosta? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other South Georgia Regional Library branches in Valdosta
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.14 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Valdosta cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $2.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.1M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 64,122 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valdosta | Willis L. Miller Library | — | 56 | C |
| Bemiss | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Willis L. Miller Library is one branch of South Georgia Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 135,908 people it serves.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Valdosta
Does Valdosta have a public library?
Yes: Willis L. Miller Library, 2906 Julia Drive, is a branch of South Georgia Regional Library, which serves 135,908 people. The branch is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is South Georgia Regional Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Valdosta’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 1.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Valdosta’s civic life grade?
C Valdosta is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns on civic life, #69 of 222 in Georgia. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Valdosta.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.